In this episode, I discuss skin health and appearance and why both are important indicators of the health status of your immune system, gut microbiome, and other organ systems. I explain why sunlight is essential for skin and hormone health and how excessive sunlight can accelerate skin aging and cause certain skin cancers. I discuss the different types of sunscreens (physical, chemical, and mineral-based) and potential health concerns of the chemicals found in some (but not all) sunscreens. I also discuss the importance of getting your skin (and not just moles) checked for pre-cancerous and cancer growths, the role of nutrition and lifestyle factors that improve skin health and appearance, and how to improve your skin by reducing local and systemic inflammation and supporting your microbiome. I explain what works to improve your skin's youthfulness and appearance, including reducing wrinkles, sagging, and pore size. I review the data on ingesting (or topically applied) collagen, vitamin C, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and retinol, and what is known about the use of peptides (e.g., BPC-157, copper peptides) and red and far-red light phototherapies for improving skin health and appearance. I also discuss the causes of acne, rosacea, and psoriasis and explain nutritional, skin care, and prescription-based approaches to treating these common skin conditions. This episode ought to help everyone better understand the biology of the skin and help them make the best possible decisions for their skin health, care, and appearance according to age, goals, and current skin conditions. Access the full show notes, including referenced articles, books, people mentioned, and additional resources at hubermanlab.com. Andrew's New Book Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body: https://protocolsbook.com Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Joovv: https://joovv.com/huberman BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/huberman ROKA: https://roka.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Timestamps 00:00:00 Skin Health 00:02:59 Sponsors: Joovv, BetterHelp & ROKA 00:07:18 Skin Biology, Skin Layers 00:12:40 Sun Exposure, UV Light & Skin Cancers; Sunscreen 00:19:51 Aging, Sun Exposure, Skin Cancers, Physical Barriers 00:27:24 Sunburn & Skin Cancers 00:30:09 Sponsor: AG1 00:31:58 Vitamin D, Sun Exposure & Sunscreen 00:36:50 Organic (Chemical) Sunscreen & Inorganic (Mineral-Based) Sunscreen 00:49:20 Skin Cancers, Moles, Laser Resurfacing 00:53:59 Sponsor: LMNT 00:55:34 Sun Exposure, Melanoma & Life Expectancy 01:03:13 Tool: Youthful Skin, Collagen & Vitamin C 01:12:55 Peptides, BPC-157, Copper 01:20:58 Tool: Niacinamide (Nicotinamide), Youthful Skin, Dark Spots, Hyaluronic Acid 01:26:25 Tool: Retinol (Retin-A, Tretinoin, Retinyl Esters), Youthful Skin 01:33:07 Tool: Phototherapy, Youthful Skin, Treating Skin Conditions 01:41:10 Tool: Nutrition for Skin Health, Anti-Inflammatory Diets 01:47:54 Highly Processed Foods, Advanced Glycation End Products & Skin Health 01:52:08 Tools: Reduce Inflammation: Gut Microbiome, Sleep, Alcohol, Smoking, Stress 01:58:58 Acne, Hormones & Insulin; Tool: Low Glycemic Diet, Dairy 02:07:26 Tools: Face Cleansing & Acne; Scarring & Popping Pimples 02:13:29 Tool: Treating Rosacea, Alcohol, Skin Care, Nutrition 02:18:31 Stubborn Rosacea, Over Cleansing, Pulsed Dye Laser 02:21:04 Psoriasis Treatment, Immune System & Prescriptions 02:25:24 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer
Full Episode
Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, we are discussing skin health.
Our skin is an incredibly important organ, not just for our appearance or because it serves as a barrier to the other organ systems of the body, but because it actually reflects the health status of all the other organs and systems in our body, including our brain. As well, you'll learn today about the direct and reciprocal relationship between the immune system and our skin.
And if you think about it, you've seen this relationship in action before. When any of us is feeling fatigued or sick, the color, the tone of our skin tends to be a bit quote unquote off, at least for us, relative to what it normally is. Conversely, when we are feeling particularly well rested and vibrant and healthy, our skin reflects that. So today we will discuss the skin as an organ.
We'll talk a little bit about the biology of skin so that everybody's on board the nomenclature of the different cell types in the skin and how they're affected by various things. And then we will discuss those things such as sunlight and sun exposure as it relates to We'll talk about sunscreens, of course, something that I know garners a lot of interest these days, and even some controversy.
We will talk about common conditions of skin that concern people such as acne, rosacea, psoriasis, eczema. And of course we will talk about so-called anti-aging treatments for skin. That is the things that can be done to help reduce the degradation of the protein components in skin, things like collagen, things that you can do to improve collagen turnover, as well as elastin.
These are other proteins within skin that give skin its youthful, or in some cases where it's degenerative, non-youthful appearance, things like wrinkles and sagging skin. So we'll talk about all of that. We'll also talk about the various products that have been developed in order to treat wrinkles, treat sagging skin, reverse acne, et cetera.
We'll talk about which ones are safe, which ones are not safe, and which ones for which there still is no clear answer. I want to make very clear here at the outset that while I'll discuss various skin products during today's episode, I nor the podcast has any financial relationship to those products. I will provide examples of certain products and provide a few links in the show note captions.
But I want to point out that those serve merely as examples that I found during researching this episode, which, by the way, included speaking to several board-certified dermatologists, including a dermatologist expert in oncology, cancers of the skin.
So by the end of today's episode, you will have a much clearer understanding about skin and what it is at the level of biology and function, its relationship to other systems in the body, including the immune system and gut microbiome, and you will be armed with the knowledge to make the best possible decisions for you in terms of skin health and skin care, depending on your age, your goals, and any current conditions you may have.
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